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Saturday, December 8, 2012

In 2008, the Prichard Committee challenged Kentucky to set its sites on having schools in the top twenty of the fifty states on a set of important indicators, and shared Kentucky's standings at that point. This week, the 2012 report on state progress toward those goals is out, and as Stu Silberman has noted, it "offers reason for a real sense of pride and also a real sense of urgency.”

ON TRACK FOR 2020
New results show Kentucky moving up on ten of the twenty categories, either
reaching the Top 20 or improving at a rate to get there by 2020.
Kentucky ranks:

4th in fourth-grade science

11th in fourth-grade reading

13th in eighth-grade reading

16th in completion of associate’s degrees

17th in eighth-grade science

21st in family share of higher education costs

25th in fourth-grade math

28th in average teacher salary

30th in adults with a high school diploma or equivalent

31st in high school graduates going on to college

IMPROVING, BUT SLOWLY
On five categories, new results show gains, but the state is
moving too slowly to reach the Top 20 on time. Kentucky ranks:

29th in students earning AP college credit

32nd in eighth-grade math

35th in bachelor’s degree completion

38th in bachelor’s degree attainment

43rd in share of bachelor’s degrees earned in science, technology, engineering and math

FLAT OR LOSING GROUND
New results show Kentucky stuck or losing ground on three
categories. Kentucky ranks:

21st in per-pupil higher education funding

29th in preschool enrollment

41st in per-pupil K-12 funding

NO NEWS
Two categories had no new data since the 2012 report. In
those areas, Kentucky still ranks:

20th in fourth-grade writing, based on 2002 data

36th in eighth-grade writing, based on 2007 data

Do check out the complete report, with trend graphs from 2008 forward and Prichard recommendations for reaching the Top 20 goals over the coming eight years. It's an important way of understanding Kentucky's past progress and making sure we move even more strongly forward in the coming years.